just to be clear ↑ these are the saved memories, thanks to the incredibly kind and talented Diana Rush. The photographer who committed the wedding fail in today’s story? Will not be named. Homey don’t play like that. (I’m homey, if you were unsure.)

Happiest of afternoons to you, my darlings. How’s your day going? How’s your face? How’s your complexion – is it to your standards, or is Shark Week unleasing its nastiness on your pores? I certainly hope not, that s*** is insufferable. It’s enough to get me to choose the date for my wedding based entirely upon my menstrual cycle. And maybe on the availability of my immediate and extended family. But menstruation is going to trump second cousin availability, for sure.

But I digress.

Here, get a cup of tea, grab your Snuggie or whatever accoutrements to which you’re accustomed when spending some free time with me on this blog, sit down on a comfortable chair (or if you’re at the office, a ‘chair’ since only the fancy higherups get the fancy ergonomic ones which is so unfair) and have a listen. Because things just took a turn into Seriousville. You see, sometimes… something terrible happens on your wedding day. But guess what? There’s something you can do to make the memories 1000% better than they had to turn out. And I feel slightly uncomfortable talking about this, because it talks about the unfortunate negative side of how things can go, but that just pretty much means I HAVE to blog it now, right? What the hell am I doing blogging if I’m not telling you things can go wrong. So here we go. Well, naturally, we begin with me being a ridiculous. THEN, the story. {Continue reading…}

Whew! Happy Monday afternoon, my friends my buddies. I’m relieved to report that the hurricane’s over, and we made it out alive. Thank you ALL for your incredibly kind well-wishes and concern! I’ll tell you, there were some light breezes that, for a moment there at the height of the storm, we thought *for sure* were going to blow some loose papers directly into our faces, potentially – and this was the worst case scenario – potentially leaving behind some of the meanest paper cuts ever left on a face. {Continue reading…}

I just applied a snake bite venom removal survival tactic to my keyboard’s face. This is my life. Alison spills coffee on her spacebar, Alison calls upon her experience in reality survival show watching, Alison puts lips to spacebar, and sucks. So I’m sitting here with poppy seeds, what I believe to be a bit of dust, and a wee bit of mocha coffee on the roof of my mouth. So yeah, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I think I know how to start a Wednesday. #DUH #winning?

Anywhozit, happy afternoon, lovelies!!! I hope you’re doing well, all of you. I have a stellar wedding to share with your face’s eyes today, and I kinda wanna jump right into it, if you’re down. Wait, you’re down? Cool! Yeah, I played the assume game there, but it’s only because I really want you guys to feast your eyes already on what accompanies THIS KIND OF AMAZING ISH: {Continue reading…}

We’ve got a super gorgeous Valentine’s Day free printable AND giveaway coming up (!!!), but we thought we should kick off the week with a ridiculously pretty wedding… mainly because this is a wedding blog, not a Valentine’s Day blog. And it’s easy for we bloggers to lose sight of that during the holidays. You dig? Awesome. But first, a story, obvs…

We started the always enjoyable and not at all frustrating process of moving into our brand new apartment over the weekend (FYI – it’s AWESOME), and we couldn’t be more excited about the whole thing. If you follow on Twitter, you’ve heard a bit about the shenanigans we experienced at the hands of our former landlady. … But if you didn’t, let me just get you up to speed: our old landlady hosted what essentially amounts to an estate sale of our belongings while we were in transition between homes (you may know this concept by its more commonly used street name, *stealing*). {Continue reading…}

PLEASE NOTE: Voting on this contest is now closed. Around 2700 votes were cast, and our winner was announced here. Thank you for participating!

Morning, everyone! Happy hump day! As promised, we’re announcing the four finalists of Vendor Love member Gem Photo’s Free Wedding Photography Giveaway, and OMGWEARESOEXCITED. Emily Scott of Gem Photo is the most wonderful person in the world, and she’s pretty handy with a camera, too. Also, that last part is the biggest understatement ever. Whoever ultimately wins this giveaway is in for the wedding photography experience of their freaking LIVES. Haha, no pressure, Em. ;)

VOTING:

Ok, here’s how this is going to work. Below you’ll find all four finalists and their corresponding stories. (If you’re a finalist, congrats and good luck!) After you’ve scoped out the four submissions, you can go ahead and vote for your favorite up to two times per day.* If you’re a finalist, you can vote for yourself up to two times as well, and we encourage you to enlist your family and friends to vote (up to two times per person) for you, too! Yeah, I know, it’s awesome. But wait, there’s more!

We just added each of our finalists’ photos to an album on our Facebook page as well. If you vote by clicking “Like” beneath one of our finalists’ photos, this counts as another vote, so essentially a single person can vote three times for his/her favorite! Awesomesauce.

*VOTING CLOSES next week on Thursday, January 13th, 2011 at 9AM PST.

Ok, without further adieu, the finalists!

1. FINALIST: Candace & Rich

He makes me feel like dancing!

Rich and I started as best friends, and regardless of his numerous attempts, I never let us stray from our “just friends” relationship. Everything changed once I came back from a study abroad trip and realized I was in love too.
Throughout the past four years, Rich and I have become partners in everything from cooking, laughing, dancing, and trying new things. Rich gives me so much energy – the kind of energy that makes you want to jump to your feet and dance like a maniac. I wanted to include this animated photo because I believe it displays a large part of what has drawn Rich and I together- excitement for life and a genuine love for each other.

I look forward to calling him my husband on September 04, 2011 in Omaha, NE. We have both spent a lot of time planning our wedding to make sure our guests witness our love and share in our excitement for our future together – and you can bet they’ll be LOTS of dancing! We would love to have Emily capture those moments, so we can look back on them and feel those “powerful moments” for the rest of our lives.

♥

2. FINALIST: Kristina & Drew

This was taken in 2008 on Halloween. A few weeks before Halloween, my best friend and I were sitting on the porch talking about whether or not we were going to dress up this year. I’ve always been a Halloween fanatic (my birthday is the day before), but since we were now living in Stockton I didn’t see the point of dressing up, since we had nowhere to go. I didn’t even think we would get trick-or-treaters. We were bathing in our own self pity and discussing how maybe we were just getting too old to dress up when Drew came home. He asked what we were talking about and seemed shocked at the idea of not dressing up. Then he pulled out this large, pink gem and said he found it on the ground on his way to night class. He said it was a sign from the heavens that we should be trolls (you know those creepy little dolls that have sparkling navels). His excitement was infectious and within minutes we were buying wigs online, cutting up old sweats, and laughing about how we would get the gems to stick to our bellybuttons. Every time I look at this photo, it reminds me of the kind of man I am about to spend the rest of my life with. He is an eternal optimist and, although I like to think I’m the level headed and more responsible, it is he who has taught me to slow down and enjoy the moment. He puts up with me bitching about California’s school budget or freaking out if the DVR doesn’t record Dexter. In the last five years of being with him, I take more chances, sing more in the shower, and still get excited when I hear his car pull up in the driveway. And come on! What kind of man does it take to wear a bubble gum pink troll costume and walk down the street with his head held high?! My kind of man.

♥

3. FINALIST: Heather & Ian

Our story takes place in New York City. Ian had me pack for a long weekend upstate at a B&B that we had been planning as a much needed getaway for a few months now. We packed our bags and headed out for brunch and a bloody mary first. Once Ian mentioned Bloody Marys (which is our favorite drink), I immediately searched online for a great place to grab a bloody mary (as we’re always on the search for the best) and discovered that it was first invented at the St. Regis Hotel. I immediately suggested that we head there after brunch before catching our train (which was a GREAT idea being that that was where he planned to propose to me just a few hours later). So…we headed with our bags to the St. Regis on Friday morning and entered the King Cole Bar as the first people in there (minus the server and bartender) and were seated at a corner table. Following an emotional conversation between the two of us, Ian asked me the date and told me that this was a date I should remember as November 5, 2010 is the day he’s going to ask me to be his wife. Sliding onto his knee and slipping the ring on my finger, he asked me to marry him. Moments later, the bartender popped a bottle of champagne and Ian gave me another surprise….we weren’t going away at all…we were staying right here at the St. Regis for the weekend. Entering our suite, the entire room was decorated with purple (my favorite color) flowers and just a few hours later, both our families came to join us for drinks in our suite (yet another surprise from Ian). Amazing weekend…amazing man and I cannot wait for an amazing life together!!!

Ok, so I am neither person in the photo! My name is Stephanie, and above is Jason & Sarah! She is my very best friend of over 6 years and I just love her to pieces. They are set to wed on March 19, 2011. We met our freshmen year in college at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Jason and Sarah have been together probably over 3-4 years. He is a police officer in Wilmington, NC and she recently transferred from Duke University Hospital as a PICU Nurse (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) to New Hanover Hospital in Wilmington. He romantically proposed on Wrightsville Beach July 5, 2010, and they shortly thereafter purchased a beautiful home in Wilmington! Since the engagement, they’ve had some scary encounters. Jason has an 8 year old son named Skyler who recently became very sick with an unknown illness which the doctors suspected was leukemia or cancer. It was an extremely tough and testing few weeks but fortunately, as it turns out, was just a bacterial infection in his hip which he is still being treated with antibiotics for. With the new home, and doctor bills, the wedding budget has gotten quite tight.

They are such a wonderful couple and deserve the world and more, so I felt I would be doing them an injustice by not entering them into this contest. By the way, they have no idea! Neither Sarah nor Jason has been married before, and I want this wedding to be so special for them because they truly deserve it! They give back every single day in their occupations, so I hope they encompass just what you are looking for in a fabulous, deserving couple!

OK, LET THE VOTING BEGIN!

Quick reminder: two votes per person per day, plus one “Like” per person of one chosen finalist’s image on The Knotty Bride’s Facebook page. Family and friends of finalists are welcomed and encouraged to vote. A Facebook “Like” of a finalist’s photo functions as an additional vote, beyond the two permitted here within the post comments, making it possible to vote three times per person. High kick, woot!

Fine Print: IP addresses will be noted when tallying votes, so please, no made up email addresses and no more than two comment votes per person, per day. Thank you! Please also note that all votes cast after 9AM PST on Thursday, January 13th, 2011 will be disqualified.

Can’t wait to see who wins!

P.S. – OMGITWASSOHARDTOCHOOSEJUST4OFYOU. It was paaaaaiiiiinful, you guys. We’re so incredibly sad we couldn’t choose everyone. Please don’t hate us. We love all of you and adored all of your entries. Soooooo haaaaaard to chooooose.

xoxo! – Alison & Emily

For reference, here’s the giveaway post, where this contest began. Meeeeemmorieees…

And here’s Em’s listing, if you’re looking for an amazeballs photographer and didn’t enter this contest. Wheeee!

Today’s real outdoor wedding takes place on a farm in what is clearly one of the most romantic and naturally gorgeous settings imaginable. The bride’s chosen color palette of creams, blushes and champagnes lend to the event’s elegant, soft and very clean look. It’s simply sublime. That right there was a hint, did you catch it? {Continue reading…}

Tell me, have you ever dreamed of getting married in Napa? Better yet, are you planning to? Well, today’s wedding will seal the deal on that little dream-nugget you’ve got floating around in that crazy planning brain of yours.

I was thinking about speaking on the topic of E!’s Bridal Plasty today but, somehow, discussing soul crushing, emotionally vacant, body manipulation competitions is not the direction in which I want to take today’s post. Maybe tomorrow. Plus, I haven’t sat through the wretchedness as of yet. It’s sitting in my DVR, waiting to torture me with its wrongness.

So, instead, I’m going to talk about something AWESOME, also known as today’s wedding. :) Note my special titling for International Real Weddings. Yes, there’s a heavy influence coming from HGTV’s House Hunters therein. No shame in my game.

Now… remember this sneak peek?

Well, it came from today’s Real Wedding. And believe you me, I’ve got a whooooole lotta love for this wedding – and not only because it’s a golden pastel wonderland of pretty pretty prettiness with jimmies on top. Even though that would be sufficient qualification, if you know me. Aaaaand ya do. But yeah, reason number one why I love this wedding is {Continue reading…}

Ok, I have a lot to share with you on this, the day before Thanksgiving. So sit down (or stay where you are, if you’re already sitting) and buckle up. ‘Cause you’re in for a very pleasant, turbulence-free ride. So, I guess buckles aren’t necessary. Anywho!

I hardly know where to start, so I’m just going to go stream of consciousness with this. … Which is kind of my daily approach, shhh don’t tell anybody…

Ladies love shoe photography. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that. Gotta get the shoes, on their own, on the feet, and everybody else’s shoes, and shots sitting in chairs, shots from the shins down, shots with the dress ever-so-slightly lifted up to reveal the shoe… all of it. Because the shoe is a major part of the show these days. And why not? I wholeheartedly support the idea. In fact, now’s as good a time as any to let you know that, during a fairly recent {Continue reading…}